Rising Stars: Meet Donovan Neal

Today we’d like to introduce you to Donovan Neal. 

Hi Donovan, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I never thought I would become a best-selling author in the field of Christian Fiction and Fantasy. I suppose when I look back on my past, all the ingredients were there. 

A great grandmother who constantly talked about the Bible and angels: check. 

A lover of books, comics, and movies: check. 

A deep desire to study the Bible and a fascination about the fall of Lucifer: check. 

Add in a first novel written in my high school creative writing class: a touch of the love of dungeons and dragons in high school and college. I suppose something must have been brewing. 

But ultimately, it took unemployment, divorce, and various ups and downs to bring what was ultimately a ten-year journey to bring my first novel to market. 

It was sometime back in 2004 or 2005 when the idea for my book really came to me. I simply wanted to tell a story about what I believed was the epic tale of the fall of Lucifer. I had always been fascinated by the story of the angel who had betrayed God, and I had not seen as of that time anything that seriously tried to tell the story in a way that I thought was both serious and biblical. I decided in my audacity that I would try my hand at telling the story. 

Seven years later, I finished my first draft after experiencing unemployment twice, divorce from a 23-year marriage, and stepping down from ministry due to my divorce. In addition, I lost my job of three and a half years and was making income at a far lower level than what I once had. In fact, at one point, I was so cash-poor that I left work knowing I did not have enough gas to make the half-hour trip home and waited an hour before I hit the road so my direct-deposited check would clear my bank account. All so that I could get enough gas at the corner gas station near my job so I could make the return trip home. Thus, in the midst of a very trying time in my life, I completed the first draft of my novel on July 4th, 2013. 

I had learned enough from reading books and various magazines that I knew that I needed to acquire an agent, and so I tried on my own to submit my manuscript to a literary agency. They promptly let me know that they were not enthusiastic enough about the project and wished me the best. 

It was then that I decided that I needed to be my own agent, I had enough enthusiasm to do it: and thus began my journey of indie publication. Now prior to this, I had acquired the monies to get graphic design work done for a cover and had another $500 for editing. I also had a couple of early readers take a look at it, and one gave me some good developmental feedback. However, my social circle simply did not consist of people I could give the book to help me edit it prior to its release. I did reach out to a person who I thought would be a great person to both learn from and share. But the feedback I received was so negative and from a professed Christian no less that I ended up having to cut off association with the person as it became mentally unhealthy for me. Eventually, this person would later return to actually cyber-stalk me and write negative and falsehoods things about me and my book on my book’s Amazon review page. 

In November of 2013: several months after I completed the first draft. I uploaded my book to Amazon’s KDP and created a print version using what was then called Createspace. 

I proceeded afterward to do several Internet radio interviews and utilized a blog tour to help spread the word. Reviews started pouring in. Overall, people enjoyed the read. I was very active in finding reviewers who might enjoy my type of fiction and spread the word. I created a blog using wordpress.com, and a Facebook author’s page was eventually created in addition to my joining Twitter and Google Plus. (Remember them!) 

While all this was happening, I was getting reviews that showed how much I needed to have my work edited beyond what I had initially done. And while I did have it edited, enough comments came back from reviewers that I decided I needed to invest further in the book to make it the best product that I could. I eventually decided to get a second edit from another editor, and my experience was much better than my first. 

I also wanted to make the book available to people in bookstores. Call it vanity, confidence, naiveté, or whatever you desire, but I wanted to make sure anyone could go into the store and order a copy. So, I acquired a publisher’s account through Lightning Source (aka Ingram Spark) and uploaded the book there. 

Reviews came slowly, and I corrected various errors that I found later in the manuscript, and over time made it better and better. I had to resubmit the print version of my book to Lightning Source several times, which caused me to shell out even more cash for multiple revisions. It was a maddening process. 

Now during this time, I was still being trolled by my earlier acquaintance who made it a point to negatively comment on any bad reviews that I received from readers. Moreover, after 7 years, and after spending months getting the book edited, a great cover made, and after spending over one thousand dollars in getting my book to meet some modicum of professional standards. I also spent about another $150.00 on a blog tour. I earned at the end of Jan 2014 from my eBook sales, $11.44 from the sale of six books. 

Yep, $11.44 cents. Yeah, really, eleven dollars and forty-four cents. 

In teaching classes about indie publishing, I often ask would my students have been discouraged at this stage after investing over $1200.00 in a project to only make back $11.44 cents. Would they be discouraged after realizing that you still needed to pour even more money into the project to make it better? What would they do if you had a person who had not even read your book but was actively out to speak against it? What would they have done? 

Now for some, all of the above might have been discouraging, but I received enough early reviews to know that I was onto something, and if I could expose my book to enough readers who believed in the value of what I had produced, I believed that the work would speak for itself. 

I am happy to report that as of the date of this writing the book has done above all that I could have asked or thought, and while the novel is not, of course, for everyone’s taste (no book ever is.) 4 out of 5 people generally like the work. 

Since that time, the book has picked up even more positive reviews, and my platform has dramatically improved; I even have the book in the audio format now for readers, and it too has garnered positive reviews. Multiple books now have been written with more books on the way. And there is even a movie producer who has reached out to invite me to a panel discussion for an upcoming movie project that touches on the series’ subject matter. 

To say that I am elated is beyond words. Today I am happy to serve in my professional capacity as the Executive Director of Teach, empower and achieve in Detroit, Michigan: a workforce development organization that assists persons in shelters to secure employment. Happily remarried to a wonderful woman, I look forward to the next stages of the journey and encourage all those who dream to pursue them despite the naysayers. 

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think one of the biggest struggles I faced was myself. Simply allowing me to get out of the way and repeatedly take the steps to finish my work. To push past the lack of resources, depression from broken relationships, and from those that would seek to sabotage my efforts. I think one’s belief in oneself and the willingness to persevere is the not so “secret sauce to achieve any worthwhile goal. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My background is in non-profit work. Whether that work was in the church or in secular pursuits, I’ve spent my entire adult career attempting to help those who were in need. I spent fifteen years working with abused, neglected, and at-risk youth in Ann Arbor and spent several years as an adjunct professor for Washtenaw community college. I had the privilege of serving for just under four years at the Judson Center working with adults with disabilities and working to supply employment for that population. I’ve spent nine years as the Executive Director for the Hospitality House Food panty working with the food insecure and helping to grow that organization. Currently, I serve as the Executive Director of T.E.A. (teach, empower, achiever), a workforce development non-profit in Detroit that assists women who face housing insecurity obtain employment. I am most proud of the work that I’ve had on teens who’ve come back to me years later and appreciated the manner in which I conducted myself with them. I always hope that I am remembered as someone who left a place better than when I found it. 

What do you think about luck?
I was once told by my former pastor that luck was where preparation meets opportunity. I have found that to be true, and I would say that I’ve attempted to prepare myself for various opportunities, patiently waiting for my preverbal turn. 

I think I’ve been exceptionally fortunate to have met some fabulous people both in my former house of worship and my various employment venues over the years to my present. Was it luck that I met them? I prefer to think that a good man’s steps are ordered by the Lord. Even when you do not always know the destination or the why of each step. In the end, all I know is that collectively each person has made a deposit in my life that I am grateful for. 

Overall, I’ve been blessed to have some wonderful kids and to have the support of my wonderful wife Lynnette. 

Pricing:

• The Third Heaven: The Rise of Fallen Stars. 14.99 paperback

Contact Info:

• Website: donovanmneal.com
• Instagram: donovanmneal
• Facebook: @donovanmartinneal
• Twitter: @Donovanmneal